In the summer of 2024, the Alberta Aviation Museum set out to engage more youth through our summer Youth Volunteer Program. The program connected the museum with more than a dozen youth who volunteered throughout the summer, some who even continued to volunteer after the program wrapped up. This year with the generous support of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Edmonton, the Youth Volunteer Program is back and accepting application from youth aged 16-17.
In July and August, we will welcome a new cohort of youth who will assist in delivering activities during summer camp and children’s tours, guiding tours of the museum’s restoration area, and working in our simulator lab. New to the program this year, youth will undertake their own research project about an object from the museum’s collection. This project will expand the program to include more experience working with the museum collection and written interpretation in addition to last year’s focus on public programming. An opportunity sure to appeal to youth with an interest in history, aviation, or just looking for a unique summer experience!
The Youth Volunteer Program aims to engage a demographic who are not typically very involved with the museum, there is the wide perception among youth that museums are not relevant to them, nor do they feel represented by museums (Kids in Museums Youth Panel 2024). This year, the program aims to not only provide youth experience in working in a museum but also to tell stories that are relevant to them. Youth will get an a behind-the-scenes look at the museum as they each complete a research project on an object from the museum’s collection. Youth will then work together with the support of museum staff to create new display signage about their object studies which will be displayed in the museum. With this project, the youth volunteers will have the chance to have their say on which stories are shared and how they are told.
Learn more HERE
Know a youth who might be interested? Apply here today! The deadline to apply is June 10th, 2025.
Sources:
Kids in Museums Youth Panel. 2024. “Dear Change Makers: An Open Letter from the Kids in
Museums Youth Panel.” Kids in Museums, March 23, 2024. https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/2024/05/dear-change-makers-an-open-letter-from-the-kids-in-museums-youth-panel/.